Niket Bhavsar, a foreign national from India who is in Canada on a work visa,had been charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, and supplying alcohol to a minor. All of these charges were withdrawn as part of a deal in which Bhavsar was allowed to plead guilty to one count of common assault.

TIMMINS, Ont. — An Ottawa man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and sexually interfering with her friend walked out of a Timmins courtroom a free man on Thursday after the court accepted a plea bargain meant to preserve his chances of becoming a Canadian citizen.

Niket Bhavsar, a foreign national from India who is in Canada on a work visa, had been charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, and supplying alcohol to a minor. All of these charges were withdrawn as part of a deal in which Bhavsar was allowed to plead guilty to one count of common assault.

Bhavsar had travelled to Canada three years ago to work as the regional manager of several Subway locations in the Timmins area. His victim in this case, was one of his teenaged employees; the other was her friend.

Since being charged, Bhavsar has moved to Ottawa where he is now the manager of a Toppers Pizza location.

The plea bargain — which the parents of Bhavsar’s victims consented to — gave Bhavsar a conditional discharge, which means he will have no criminal record because of the conviction. The court accepted the deal, including the sentence, despite the fact that both the Crown and the presiding judge believed there had been a reasonable prospect of conviction on the charge of sexual assault.

It was explicitly explained in court the deal was designed so Bhavsar’s ambitions of becoming a Canadian citizen would not be completely derailed by the conviction. The defence, the Crown and even Justice Martin Lambert acknowledged the 26-year-old man was getting a big break.

“You are very lucky that (the Crown and the defence) have come to this resolution, Mr. Bhavsar,” said Justice Lambert, while approving the deal. “Having said that, because of a lack of a prior record, I would agree that a conditional discharge is certainly in your best interests, and given the circumstances, not contrary to the public interest. But you are getting a substantial break with this agreement.”

The conditions of Bhavsar’s discharge are that he is on probation for 12 months where he must keep the peace, he cannot communicate with his victims, he cannot consume alcohol, he must stay away from Iroquois Falls, and he can’t be alone with any female under the age of 16.

Assistant Crown Attorney Gerrit Verbeek outlined the prosecution’s case leading up to the charges:

On Aug. 2, Bhavsar invited the employee and her friend over to his home for drinks. Verbeek pointed out that text messages between Bhavsar and the girls showed that he knew they were both 15 years old, and was even concerned about the police.

When the girls arrived, they all consumed vodka together. At one point Bhavsar left with the friend to buy some more alcohol.

The employee later told police that when they returned, Bhavsar pulled her to him by the arm and began rubbing her hip. She then left and called her boyfriend. She also told police later that night that Bhavsar had touched her chest and tickled her at work.

The friend told police that after the employee had left, Bhavsar had laid down on top of her, had her drink more vodka and began rubbing her inner thigh. She pushed him away and left as well.

The two girls met up again at a bowling alley, where they were found by police after someone called them about two drunk and upset teenage girls in the parking lot. They were taken to hospital and interviewed by the officers.

Much of this account was not admitted to by Bhavsar. All he would admit to was that he had the employee at his home that night and engaged in unwanted contact with her, which constituted common assault.

He denied that there had been any touching of the employee’s chest at work, and only knew that one of the girls was under age.

Bhavsar’s lawyer, William Vanbridger, suggested the evidence in the case did not support the Crown’s case for sexual assault, which makes it unlikely he would have been convicted of the other charges had it gone to trial.

“I don’t mean to disparage the two victims, but there are a number of text messages going between the two of them, and there is no mention of sexual activity in those messages,” said Vanbridger.

Verbeek disagreed with that assessment, and Lambert said he believed the prosecutor was likely correct that there was a reasonable chance Bhavsar could have been convicted, had it gone to trial.

The case now over, Bhavsar was to return to Ottawa with no plans to return to the Timmins area.

His work visa will expire on Jan. 7, 2017, and while the conviction will not put an immediate end to his aspirations of staying in Canada and eventually becoming a citizen, Vanbridger noted that the discharge won’t necessarily prevent Immigration Services Canada from rejecting him, either.

“It’s something that will be taken into consideration by Immigration Services Canada. But at least it doesn’t bar him from making that application.”